Android for all and the new Nexus 5  —  Just in time for Halloween, we have two new treats for Android fans.  First, we're excited to unwrap our latest platform release, KitKat, which delivers a smarter, more immersive Android experience to even more people.  And second, we're introducing Nexus 5—a new Nexus phone developed with LG.

Google, Red Hat, Oracle contributing dozens of engineers, designers to fix HealthCare.gov  —  Google, Oracle Workers Enlisted for Obamacare ‘Tech Surge’  —  Google, Red Hat, Oracle and other companies are contributing dozens of computer engineers and programmers to help the Obama administration fix …

Coast Guard visits mysterious ‘Google barge’  —  Agency mum on trip and San Francisco vessel's purpose, citing “commercial confidentiality.”  —The Coast Guard on Wednesday visited the mysterious “Google barge” floating in San Francisco Bay, but the agency would not reveal anything about the tech giant's hush-hush vessel.

New FAA Guidelines Permit More Device Use, All The Way From Take-Off To Landing  —  For years now, most of us have been quietly not turning off our phones and devices at landing and take off, and merely putting the screens to sleep and stuffing them in seat pockets instead.

AT&T Is Said to Explore Vodafone Takeover as Soon as Next Year  —  AT&T Inc. executives are laying the groundwork internally for a potential takeover of Vodafone Group Plc next year, mapping out a strategy for a complex deal with Europe's largest mobile carrier, people familiar with the situation said.

Launch of iPad in early 2010 seen to coincide with quantum leap in visits to Apple stores  —  The Quantum Leap in Retail  —  In fiscal 2013 there were 395 million visits to Apple retail stores.  In 2012 there were 372 million.  —  The difference is approximately the population of Australia.

Samsung Tops Apple in Latest J.D. Power Tablet Customer Satisfaction Survey  —  Apple has been ranked second, edged out slightly by Samsung in J.D. Power's latest U.S. tablet satisfaction study.  Samsung scored 835 on a 1,000 point scale, while Apple was just behind at 833.

Panasonic concedes plasma TV defeat, ends production  —  After the heartbreak of losing Pioneer's excellent Kuro line, Panasonic's plasma displays were the last bastion of hope for plasma TV enthusiasts, but now even they are going extinct.  Panasonic today confirmed a Reuters report …

Top Reviewers On Amazon Get Tons Of Free Stuff … You're on Amazon.com.  You're buying, say, a toaster, and you're checking out the customer reviews.  You assume the people writing these reviews are people like you — people who wanted a toaster, went online and bought one.

Why are Internet startups raising so much, so fast?  —  Snapchat, Pinterest and Nextdoor are all raising money before the ink is even dry on their last VC checks.  Why?  —  FORTUNE — Pinterest last week announced that it had raised $225 million in new funding, just eight months after raising $200 million.

After Walt Mossberg and David Pogue: Waiting for the Next Great Technology Critic  —  For well over a decade, the two most influential voices about consumer technology have been a sixty-six-year-old man who lives just outside of Washington, D.C. and a fifty-year-old man who resides in Westport, Connecticut.

Google DNS Departs Brazil Ahead of New Law  —  In response to recent NSA spying allegations, Brazil is pressing ahead with a new law to require Internet companies like Google to store data about Brazilian users inside Brazil, where it will be subject to local privacy laws.

Ex-NSA Contractor Snowden Finds Computer Job in Russia  —  Fugitive former US security contractor Edward Snowden has found a website maintenance job in Russia, his lawyer said Thursday.  —  Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia this summer, will start work November 1 in maintaining …

Strategy Analytics: Android smartphone shipments up to 81.3% in Q3 2013, iOS down to 13.4%, Windows Phone at 4.1%  —  Global smartphone shipments reached 251.4 million units in Q3 2013, up 45 percent from 172.8 million units in Q3 2012.  Breaking those numbers down, Google's Android secured …